ENYA - CARIBBEAN BLUES

CARIBBEAN BLUE

ENYA

SONGWRITERS: ENYA & ROMA RYAN

COUNTRY: IRELAND

ALBUM: THEMES FROM CALMI CUORI APPASSIONATI

LABEL: WEA

GENRE: CELTIC

YEAR: 1991

 

             Enya Patricia Brennan (Irish: Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin/ˈɛnjə/; born 17 May 1961) is an Irish singer, songwriter, record producer and musician. Born into a musical family and raised in the Irish-speaking area of Gweedore in County Donegal, Enya began her music career when she joined her family's Celtic folk band Clannad in 1980 on keyboards and backing vocals. She left in 1982 with their manager and producer Nicky Ryan to pursue a solo career, with Ryan's wife Roma Ryan as her lyricist. Enya developed her sound over the following four years with multitracked vocals and keyboards with elements of new age, Celtic, classical, church, and folk music. She has sung in ten languages.

             Enya's first projects as a solo artist included soundtrack work for The Frog Prince(1984) and the 1987 BBC documentary series The Celts, which was released as her debut album, Enya(1987). She signed with Warner Music UK, which granted her artistic freedom and minimal interference from the label. The commercial and critical success of Watermark(1988) propelled her to worldwide fame, helped by the international top-10 hit single "Orinoco Flow". This was followed by the multi-million-selling albums Shepherd Moons(1991), The Memory of Trees(1995) and A Day Without Rain(2000). Sales of the latter and its lead single, "Only Time", surged in the United States following its use in the media coverage of the September 11 attacks. Following Amarantine(2005) and And Winter Came...(2008), Enya took an extended break from music; she returned in 2012 and released Dark Sky Island(2015).

           She is Ireland's best-selling solo artist and second-best-selling artist behind U2, with a discography that has sold 26.5 million certified albums in the United States and an estimated 75 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. A Day Without Rain (2000) remains the best-selling new-age album, with an estimated 16 million copies sold worldwide. Enya has won awards including seven World Music Awards, four Grammy Awards for Best New Age Album, and an Ivor Novello Award. She was nominated for na Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for "May It Be", written for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring(2001).

           "Caribbean Blue" is a song by Irish musician Enya, originally released as the second track on her 1991 album, Shepherd Moons. It follows a waltz time signature, and mentions the Anemoi (Ancient Greek wind gods): Boreas, Afer Ventus(Africus), Eurus, and Zephyrus.

          When released, "Caribbean Blue" reached number 8 on the Irish Singles Chart and number 13 on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it reached number 79 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number three on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart; on the latter listing, it was the 12th-most-successful song of 1992. The music video for the song features visual imagery based on the paintings of Maxfield Parrish, and was an early appearance for British actress and singer Martine McCutcheon.

Eurus

Afer ventus

 

So the world goes round and round

With all you ever knew

They say the sky high above

Is Caribbean blue

 

If every man says all he can

If every man is true

Do I believe the sky above

Is Caribbean blue

 

Boreas

Zephryus

 

If all you told was turned to gold

If all you dreamed was new

Imagine sky high above

In Caribbean blue

 

Eurus

Afer ventus

Boreas

Zephryus

Africus.